The Missing Part of You
by Katyeb
Summary: Shinzon's cure may be found in his latest obsession... but he may find there's more to this enigma than he bargained for. Based on Star Trek: Nemesis
1. A Business Representative

Long strands of ebony hair fell conveniently over the shell of her ear, hiding the small white disc that rested snugly in its canal. Slender, elegant fingers rose to brush that hair back, discreetly adjusting the bug's settings as they passed it. Devi frowned as she listened to the upped volume. There, the Reman commander's voice was definitely louder now, but not as clear as she would have liked. She hesitated, then stepped around the corner and walked down the corridor, stopping halfway and leaning against the wall. She was now in plain view of any assembled in the Romulan senate who decided to look through the decoratively barred doors behind them. At least the sentries had been dismissed. It was a risk she had to take, and in any case it looked like the private meeting was about to wrap up.   
  
The five Remans and four Romulans inside all had their backs turned to her, so involved in whatever was being said that the only threat of discovery was if Praetor Shinzon or the viceroy at his shoulder chanced to raise their eyes. It didn't look like that was going to happen, either, and even if it did there was nothing she could do about it. She took another side-step closer to the doors. The commander was speaking in the Reman language, and Shinzon was replying in it, no doubt in part to irk the Romulans. Devi's Hazthash was rusty, something she would have to remedy when she had the time--something she would have remedied, if her employers had given her the damn time. For now, she would have to play the bug later tonight and listen carefully. She was still relieved that she more than half-understood what Shinzon was saying, even catching a few nuances that were second-nature when she had been fluent.   
  
"The Enterprise will be here on schedule, Commander." Praetor Shinzon pushed back his cape and leaned forward in his seat, staring down the Romulan who had again dissented. His voice was silky and harsh. "And even if it is not, there is little we can do about it. I tire of explaining to you that we need to download the position of the Federation fleet from a starship before we can proceed, and therefore we must wait. Tell me, why does that concept not sink through your skull? It was a rhetorical question," he snapped as the commander opened his mouth. "Now," he surveyed the others with distant arrogance, "does anyone have anything else to add?" Shaking heads and murmured negatives circled through the group. "Good." Shinzon settled back, hooking one leg over the arm of his seat. He glanced up over the heads of those assembled and stiffened.   
  
A woman stood several meters back from the doors, weight rested and one leg folded up against the wall. She could almost be called tall, with hair as black as the emptiness of space hanging just long enough to drape over her shoulders. She straightened when she saw him looking, her expression inscrutable. A human woman. How long had she been standing there? How did she even manage to get into the outer Forum? Shinzon felt his mouth go dry as her gaze met his dark, predatory one: her eyes were all at once blue and green and amber and silver, swirled together like the colors of a nebula.   
  
The contact lasted only a heartbeat, then she turned and quickly vanished around the corner. Shinzon again focused on his collaborators, forcing his voice to be hard and steady. "You may go."   
  
One by one, every Romulan and Reman bowed their head and took their leave. The Praetor stared at the spot the woman had been as they went, unable to shake the feeling of those eyes on him. "Shinzon." A familiar hand on his shoulder accompanied the gravelly voice. He looked up into his viceroy's face. "What is it?"   
  
Shinzon looked back. He shook his head. "Nothing."   
  
****  
  
He saw her again at dinner later that night. It was a lavish affair, the official ceremony that would be decorated with enough speeches from enough important people and enough impressive toasts to send a message to the rest of the Romulan empire: Shinzon was Praetor now. The food was good and the atmosphere formally festive, but Shinzon found himself rather bored until he caught sight of her from across the banquet hall, dressed in gauzy, draping fabric that accented broad shoulders and the curve of the hip, mingling as boldly as you please with the people. She was the only alien in the entire room; Shinzon wondered how he could have missed her, unless she had just come in. He made his way to the long buffet table, smiling and greeting all manner of politicians and generals as he went, where she was surveying the Romulan selection. Shinzon had always preferred Romulan fare himself, even after ten years of the gruel fed to slaves in the dilithium mines. He supposed his human tongue would never agree with Reman tastes, and he felt an absurd thrill of relief to see that he was not the only one.   
  
He picked up a plate and took a place several meters away from her, pretending to look over the food himself. He caught his viceroy's eye and motioned him over with a subtle tilt of his head. "Who is she?" he asked in Hazthash when the Reman was within earshot, taking care to remain focused on depositing a few strips of meat onto his plate but not bothering to lower his voice below normal speaking level. To his dismay and shock, he saw her head drop sharply toward the shoulder closest to him from the corner of his eye, tension in the smooth neck that was exposed by a simple but elegant bun. Did she know their language, then?   
  
"A business representative," his viceroy answered, but murmuring. "She works for Independent Shipping."   
"Do they run our weapons?" Shinzon hissed as the woman began to move away.   
  
The viceroy dipped his head. "She was negotiating a contract with the commerce department, last I checked."   
  
Devi felt Shinzon's gaze following her as she returned to her seat. "Lovely," she breathed to herself as she dipped her spoon into the soup. She had better get back to her rooms, and fast, but not before finishing what was in her bowl. After her first taste, though, she almost wished that she had filled it more than halfway: the soup was excellent, delicately sweet and fragrant. She took another spoonful; let it linger on her tongue this time. Fermented something, she decided. _Fermented rice? And damned if that isn't sweet olive flower._  
  
The food here really was exceptional. It was too bad she couldn't stay any longer. Leaving before the final toast would look odd, but this was yet another risk she had to take. Her lips pursed. She had been forced to take too many risks already today. _I can always plead sick, or space-lag, or something,_ she thought as she rose from her chair and excused herself graciously to the two Romulans sitting on either side. Shinzon watched her go. 


	2. The Contract

The room was dark but for the glow of a lamp on a stand by the bed, where Devi sat perched, carefully listening to the playback of her bug. The player could fit in the palm of her hand, and she had it on the lowest volume she could work with, holding it right beside her ear. This was the fifth time she had played the meeting back. Each time she heard Shinzon's voice dismiss his underlings, she saw him look up and discover her. It was an uneasy feeling. 

She paused the recording, isolated a few seconds from the entire thing, and fiddled with the controls. _Ah, there_, she thought, satisfied as the segment of Hazthash she could not figure out came clear. What the commander had said, now that she had taken the time to study it, was really of little concern, but Devi was a professional, and leaving even one syllable ambiguous was not professional. What truly interested her was the Praetor's words to the Romulan regarding a starship _Enterprise_. Devi stretched with a yawn, dislodging the Hazthash dictionary in her lap, something she had been forced to consult three or four times--three or four times too many, in her mind. She looked down at the flowing dress shirt and trousers she wore, deep blue and green. They had done their job well. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and removed the pants, then her top, revealing a suit of black leather that exposed only her hands and face. Thin plates of alloy guarded her shins, the backs of her thighs, torso, forearms, and a strip of armor ran the length of her spine. 

"In you go," she muttered, detaching the armor that circled her forearm. A push of the leather at her wrist opened a tiny compartment. She dropped the bug inside and pushed at the raised section, which fit back into the hole, seamless against the black. She clicked the armor back into place. "Computer, lamp off." 

The bedroom plunged into darkness. Instead of curling on her side to sleep without even getting under the covers, as was her habit, Devi rose from the bed and made her noiseless way into the main room, palming a small mirror on the way. She had no official obligations tomorrow, and she had decided far in advance that sleeping this night would be decidedly unwise. So she sat down on a couch and waited. 

Several minutes past two in the morning, Devi saw what she had been expecting: the red light of her lock suddenly, silently turned green. She was off the couch and hidden around the corner in a breath, no more than a mere shadow. _So, you sent in a croonie_, she thought, listening to the door quietly open. Light from the outside hallway crept in. Devi angled the mirror in her hand and managed to get a glimpse of the intruder before it was abruptly cut off. She nearly dropped the glass. It was Shinzon himself. 

_I don't think the Romulan empire will mind one less Praetor. They replace them all the time, after all._

Shinzon had a sureness of movement about him that worried Devi for a moment. Then she remembered. _Ah, yes, the dilithium mines. He can move in the dark._ That was all right; so could she, and she had the element of surprise. Her fingers drummed silently against the dagger at her hip. _Come on...come on..._ She could not draw her weapon until the last second; she had seen that he carried at least as many knives as she. He would know the sound of metal being drawn. 

Then, in the dark of the room, she saw his figure turn its back. Not even all the way, only a half-turn, but that was his doom. She was out from around the corner in a second, blade flying out as she tackled him to the ground. Before Shinzon knew what had hit him, he was lying on his back with a knee on his chest and cold steel at his throat. One hand was crushed beneath the second knee while the other was pinned above his head in an iron grip. "Computer," rapped a voice, "Lights." 

It was her. It was all Shinzon could do not to gasp when he saw those eyes on him again. Her raven hair had been let down, brushing over her shoulders. "What are you doing in my rooms?" she demanded coldly. 

Shinzon's chest was heaving beneath the weight of her knee. "I...uh..." he stammered, still in shock and very much aware of the dagger at his jugular. 

The pressure behind the knife increased dangerously, making Shinzon squirm. "Talk." 

He bucked unexpectedly. Devi felt herself thrown into the air. _Oops_. She hit the floor--_He's stronger than he looks_--and rolled in one fluid motion to her feet. He, too, was on his feet, whipping out a knife from a pocket at his shin. They stared at each other uneasily. Shinzon swore silently; the woman obviously knew how to use her weapons. "Come now," he said after a moment with a smile, "We're both civilized people. I'm sure we can work something out." 

Devi's dagger never wavered. "Says the person snooping through my rooms like a common thief." The temperature in the room dropped below freezing. Shinzon raised an eyebrow. 

"Ah, of course. I've forgotten my manners." He slid his blade into a wrist-sheath and straightened, walking forward with his hands clasped behind his back, heedless of her knife. "My name is Shinzon. And yours?" 

She brandished the weapon, causing him to pull up short. A lock of hair fell over her face, a black curtain through which she glared. "Devi," she replied, "And I know who you are, _Praetor_. What are you doing in my rooms?" 

Shinzon adopted a helpful, vaguely obsequious expression that did nothing to veil the poison in his eyes. "I saw you outside of the meeting. Was there anything you wished to add to the debates?" 

"Yes," she drawled. "Better locks on these doors." 

He smirked. "I'll be sure to bring it up next time." 

Devi's eyes narrowed. Keeping her dagger on him, she circled around the Praetor until she stood between him and the door. "Somehow I doubt you broke in here at two in the morning just to ask my opinion." Her lip curled. "Now I suggest you answer my question." 

Shinzon stiffened, realizing that she was in earnest. "You stick your nose where it does not belong," he snapped. "Reman business is not your own." 

She raised a brow, retorting, "My nose was not in Reman business; it was outside of that room." 

Shinzon's communicator chose that moment to beep. He gave her the barest of apprehensive glances before answering it. "Hello? Yes, I'll be right down." He looked up. "I'm afraid I must be going." 

"I don't think so," she told him flatly, seriously considering if she should let him leave the room alive. Her cover was blown; she had to leave Romulus as soon as possible. It made little difference if she committed a murder or two along the way. Shinzon ignored her, moving forward resolutely. _Oh, you really want to get slashed._

A lesser man would have never stopped her attack: Devi did not telegraph her movements; her strikes, empty-handed or not, were faster than a cobra's. So were Shinzon's. His hand came up and arrested her leather-clad wrist, holding the knife point a centimeter away from his neck. As he did so, his fingers brushed the very edge of her hand, where her armor ended. A hot-white shock surged through both as sparks flew where their skin met. For a moment, each sensed the other's mind. Devi gasped and dropped the dagger as Shinzon stumbled back from her as though burnt, probing her eyes in confusion. They stared at each other for a frozen moment before Devi recovered enough to go for one of the many other weapons secreted on her person. Shinzon also snapped into action, darting out the door like a snake. 

She lunged after him into the hallway, but that was the farthest she went. The Praetor was running. She let him go, whipping back into the room to fall against the door as it shut. She stared at the knife on the floor as though it had grown arms and legs. "...the fuck...was that...?" 

****

  
In the hour of dawn, Devi was finally able to attempt escape undetected, after having making all the necessary, on-the-spot preparations and contacting the right people. People at two in the morning who were almost as unhappy as she was. But she had the loaded bug, and that was really all that mattered. 

The Romulan Forum had originally been a fortress, and still doubled as one during the empire's many coups d'état. The Senate was housed in the inner keep, which was separated from the outer wall by a wide courtyard, about a quarter of a kilometer. As the sun's first pale rays began to wash away the night, Independent Shipping's representative was on the keep's roof, eyeing the distance to the ground. She tugged at thin gloves, black leather like the rest of her entourage and textured on the palm-side for grip. The ground was clear. Her hand slipped into a side-pocket and emerged with a black, paper-thin disc. It unfurled down the wall into a hair-breadth rope, pooling on the stones below. 

Devi fed the other end of the rope through a device at her hip, which blinked from red to green with a click, then held it down against the roof and hit a button on the device. An electric shock passed through the thread and fused it with the stone. The rope was incredibly strong for its width. Devi had no reservations about rappelling down the wall without even controlling her descent with a hand; the little gadget on her side did that for her. Technology like this was not common even in the Federation. It had saved her skin many, many times. 

She was more than halfway down when a tingle ran up her spine. It was a familiar half-feeling, one that she had learned to detect over the years. She glanced down and swore through her teeth as two Reman guards met below her and began conversing. Her fingers flew to the rappel controller to hit the _Up_ setting, but froze when she caught sight of more guards appearing on the roof. 

She had done a thorough study of every guard position and shifts. There were no guards on the roof this early in the morning. 

_Shit_. 

Up was no longer a better option than down. It lost all status as an option when a shout of, "Hey!" in Hazthash, then in Standard, came from below. Devi's head snapped up. The Remans on the roof had spotted her, as well. _Only one way to go, now_. 

Allowing herself only a second to aim, Devi released the control's lock on the rope and dropped the remaining fifty meters in free-fall, crashing down with catlike precision onto one of the guards. She managed to bring the heel of her boot hard into his head before the impact hit her. The Reman's body broke her fall, but didn't save the shattering pain that went up her shins. _Yeah, we're gonna have bruises tomorrow_, she thought as she scrambled to her feet. "Morning," she snarled at the other guard, twin blades whipping out into her hands. The guard's hand was halfway to his phaser by the time he had two daggers deep in his chest. He looked down...and smiled.  


_That can't be good_. She lunged forward and grabbed his wrist, the fingers of which had grasped the phaser by now, and threw all her body weight into twisting it behind and pinning it against his back, all the while desperately hoping none of his wild firing (or the firing coming from the roof) found its mark. She drove her elbow into the back of his neck, and this time he bellowed in pain as bone ground against bone and his wrist gave a crack. Devi snatched the phaser from his hand and pressed it to the back of the Reman's head. "Why don't you _die_?" she hissed, pulling the trigger.  


This time he obliged her, crumpling to the ground with a frozen, twisted expression. Devi brushed back her two long bangs with her wrist. "_Thank_ you."  


She only had time to pull one of her daggers out of the dead guard before a shot from above came too close for comfort. She looked up. The doors of the outer wall were straight ahead, while the entrance to the keep was twenty meters or so to her right. Shinzon stepped out into the courtyard.   


Devi's eyes widened, _what in God's name...?!_, then she bolted, running in a zigzag pattern across the stones. Shinzon flew after her, his cloak flapping in the air as he lunged and tackled her full on. They fell to the ground together. Devi managed to roll away from him and regain her feet, but Shinzon swept his legs into the back of her knees from the ground. She toppled down hard, slapping out with her free arm to absorb most of the impact. She readied her blade again and made to get up, but Shinzon was on her in a flash, pinning both hands to the flagstones. "What do your employers want?" he demanded, eyes dangerous and flashing as he loomed over her.  


Devi struggled reflexively. "_What_?" Feigning ignorance was never the best tactic in anyone's book, but given the situation, it was all she could come up with.  


Shinzon leaned more of his weight onto her wrists, making her clench her teeth. "I _said_," he hissed viciously, "What do your employers want? Information? Weapo--" Shinzon's body decided to betray him just then. The agony of cell degeneration spiked through him and he jerked forward, wheezing for breath. Devi tucked her knees to her chest and kicked him in the stomach with everything she had. The Praetor could not even draw enough breath to bellow in pain as he went flying backwards.   


Devi flipped to her feet in time to see the squad of security guards charging from the inner keep. The Remans on the roof started shooting again now that their Praetor was out of the way. Her mind raced. She leapt forward, dragged Shinzon to his feet, and held him against her with the knife at his throat. "Don't move," she snarled.   


Shinzon stiffened, breathing heavily. He managed to hold his hand up fo the guards to stop. "Let her be!" he called through clenched teeth.  


"Good boy," she muttered into his ear sarcastically, accidentally brushing it with her lips. The same jolt coursed through her again, but this time she kept her wits. Shinzon hissed and arched against her. "Now let's go." She began backing toward the outer wall, using the other human as a shield. She stopped when her back hit the doors. She risked dropping her left hand from his chest, readying her dagger to slice in case he should try to run, and groped for the controls. They were locked. "What's the code for this lock?" she said tersely.  


"Let me go and I'll tell you," he replied, searching for an opportunity.  


Devi's nebulous eyes narrowed. She pressed the blade into his throat and pulled, making a shallow cut. Her voice was low and dangerous. "What's the _code_, Shinzon?"  


He grit his teeth. "Ah..." Then in Hazthash, "5...2...9...4."  


Her eyes darted over the Reman guards, a mass of barely-restrained warriors with all weapons trained on them. "Are you sure?" she warned, feeling for the number panel, "Because if those doors do anything but open, I'll--"  


She saw his hand coming towards her face, too late. The tingling, fierce shock inflamed one cheek and shot down her shoulder. Shinzon took advantage of the moment to knock the dagger out of her hand and slip away, but was too weakened to do anything else but run back towards the guards, shouting in Hazthash. Devi spat a curse and whirled to the controls, punching in Shinzon's sequence of numbers. She was almost sure it wouldn't work, but it was her only chance now because those guards were going to open fire in about...  


_Pew!_ "Ahh! _Fuck!_" A shot had knicked her shoulder, forcing tears to her eyes as the smell of burning flesh filled her nostrils. Her right hand flew up to the wound and came away stained red. She kept enough presence of mind to duck another phaser blast as the doors began to slowly, torturously open. Devi darted through as soon as the opening became wide enough to accomdate her and began sprinting across the city for the docking bays.   


From a high balcony, a Romulan watched the woman's flight. He tapped his fingers meditatively against the railing before turning back in to the keep. "Ready my transport," he told an attendant, who dipped his head and entered a turbolift to descend to the ground floor. A moment later, his employer opened a camouflaged door in the wall and disappeared through it.  


Devi's lungs felt ready to collapse into ashes by the time she made it into the docking bays. Normally, she could have made this run without a problem, but normally, she would not have a bleeding hole the size of a saucer in her shoulder, the pain of which was catching up to her as the adrenaline began to wear off. Her left arm was all but useless. She stopped for breath, gasping, head swimming from lack of oxygen. After a moment she straightened and trotted down the row of hangars to the private bays. She always paid for her ship to be kept behind locked doors. Every step was a torture as her shoulder was jarred. Devi fairly collapsed against the wall as she keyed in her password on the controls.  


A warning tingled at the back of her neck as the doors opened. Something was wrong. She glanced back as the sound of an approaching speeder reached her ears, no doubt in pursuit. For a moment she considered bolting again and hiding until she was sure it was safe to board her shuttle, but one glance at her shoulder ruled that out--the possibility of bleeding to death was not small enough to ignore. With a grimace against her gut feeling, she darted into the bay, ordered the control panel on the ship to lower the ramp, and boarded it.  


The Romulan watched from just inside the door as she rushed past him, oblivious. He followed her noiselessly into the cockpit as the ramp retracted and the hatch closed. Blood had reached the fingers of her left hand by now, which Devi noticed was shaking. She swore and turned to seal the cockpit door. The Romulan stepped aside calmly as he was confronted with a shocked snarl and the phaser of a dead guard. "Don't let me get in your way. But I might worry about them if I were you." He gestured toward the Remans running into the hangar, visible through the cockpit.   


"Who the hell are you?" she demanded, breathless from fatigue and pain.  


"A friend," he replied with a polite nod. "But I'm the least of your concerns right now. Praetor Shinzon won't let you off Romulus so easily."  


Devi glanced back. The guards had begun to open fire. "Sit down," she snapped, motioning with the phaser and struggling to bring her breath under control. "If you move, I'll kill you." It was a genuine threat, but with her left arm utterly useless, it might as well have been a bluff, and a transparent one at that. She half-turned to the controls, keeping one eye on the Romulan, and lifted the ship from the ground.   


"Thank you." The Romulan sat. "Your hospitality is duly noted."  


Devi's jaw clenched. Manuvering a shuttle in closed quarters with one hand and a blasted shoulder was not easy. Outside, the smart guards began running and the dumb ones kept firing their rifes. "And shut _up_." She ignited the engine and blasted straight out the doors, mowing down any Reman who had not thought to get out of the way.   


Devi did not leave her station until they were out of the atmosphere. She let out a shaking breath, staring at the expanse of stars, before turning to find the medkit. She nearly ran into the Romulan, who was standing right behind her with the white box in hand. She glared. "Didn't I tell you not to move?" She took the medkit without making good on her earlier promise and slumped back against the wall. Her face was draining of color. She opened the kit with slightly trembling fingers and began to disinfect her shoulder with hydrogen peroxide, not even bother to use gauze: the wound was deep enough to pour the liqiud directly into. A choked hiss escaped through Devi's teeth. Tears sprang to her eyes as the liquid began to froth. "Who are you?" she demanded again through a gasp.  


The Romulan watched her dispassionately. "My name is Chancellor Huhn'Tej. And I understand you contract."  


She looked up sharply, thinking of the bug hidden in her suit. _Did he just say _Chancellor_?_ "I do," she said cautiously, never taking her eyes off of him as she felt for the bandages. "What of it?"  


"I was at the meeting," he went on. "I don't suppose you recognize me, as your eye was on the Praetor. Which is exactly why I am here. Ever since his rule the Romulans have had very little...shall we say, direct influence?"  


Devi was dressing the wound with one hand and her teeth. "How the mighty have fallen," she remarked when her mouth was free. Then, "What do you want me to do about it?"  


Huhn'Tej's eyes darkened. "I will pay you. Handsomely." His voice had lost some of its indifference. "For influence over Shinzon."  


Devi stopped in the middle of a wrap and looked up at him, seemingly for the first time. "Go on."  


"No Praetor has ever lasted long, due to dissent within the government beneath him. Unfortunately, if the lives of leaders are continually so short, disorder ultimately reigns. However, if Shinzon keeps his life and his title, the empire might unite behind him. Under _my_ rule. What I need you to do..." He smiled enigmatically and paused, as though thinking. "Shinzon is obsessed with his humanity. You are the only other member of his species he has ever laid eyes on. You will keep him occupied. He will listen to you in time."  


Devi raised an eyebrow, sharply. "Aren't you just a man with plans." A final wrap and tug secured the bandages. She made her way back to her seat and sat, leaning back and crossing her legs in a deceptively helpless position. "I hate to tell you this," she drawled, "but I cut his throat back there. Literally. There's no way he's going to do anything I say, assuming I get the opportunity to say anything."  


"You will not be killed, rest assured of that. Perhaps I can persuade you otherwise." The Chancellor slipped a hand into his pocket. Devi tensed and reached for the phaser, but the other only withdrew with a small black tube between his fingers. "Have you ever heard of thalaron radiation?"  


She nodded, and decided that she was getting thoroughly sick of that warning prickle. "Yeah; it's theoretical."  


"Not anymore." Huhn'Tej smiled, seeming to get some satisfaction out of seeing her eyes widen. Devi was struggling not to swallow against a suddenly dry throat. "This, and two other vials of thalaron, will be yours to do with what you wish--after you've completed the job. Sell them to the highest bidder, keep them for personal use, decorate your wall for all I care." The ship's computer beeped. "Ah, that would be their ship. If you surrender now and confess to holding a Chancellor hostage, you'll still have time to be taken prisoner."  


Devi barked a laugh, not responding to the hail just yet. "Yeah, you're a fucking hostage." Her eyes glittered coldly. _Thalaron radiation. My God, I could never have to work again for the rest of my life. _"A hundred thousand on top, and it's a deal."  


He smiled. "Excellent." The ship beeped again. "They will hail you once more, then they will open fire."  


"Two things," she said sharply as she rose. "I want a complete list of override codes for all of your damn doors, and don't even _think_ about disposing of me once you're in power. I haven't contracted for ten years for nothing."  


"I wouldn't dream of it."  


She gave him a truly frightening look before drawing a knife and making a slice through her bandages with it. Then she grabbed them and ripped the dressing off in one go, taking a fair bit of skin with it. A cry of pain twisted her face as blood began to flow even more freely than before. This had to look convincing. The Chancellor slipped the phaser from her and pinned her wrist behind her back. "C...computer," she managed through white lips, "On-screen."  


The pebbly, bat-like face of a Reman captain appeared on the monitor. Huhn'Tej nodded to him before prodding her hard with the phaser. "Confess yourself, girl!"  


Devi felt a twinge of unease but played along, doing her best to look angrily distressed. Which did not take much effort; her shoulder was really, really hurting right now. She glared back over her shoulder at the Chancellor and spat. His hand cracked across her jaw, but not _too_ hard. It was reassurance enough. "I've abducted an official of the Romulan empire," she growled at the screen.  


"And she has graciously agreed to lower her shields and allow you to board.  


"Agreed, my ass...!"  


He leaned forward to manipulate the ship's controls. The captain nodded and cut the connection. Within seconds no less than ten armed Remans beamed aboard, rifles primed and at the ready. Devi found it was all she could do to focus on breathing as Chancellor Huhn'Tej was 'rescued'. The Romulan caught her eye and inclined his head so subtly that she might have imagined it. Then there was a stun tazer to her temple and nothing more.  


  



	3. Pleasantly Surprised

Dim light flitted in and out of the darkness. After a moment she came fully awake. A grey ceiling swam gradually into focus. She lay there for another few minutes before a dull throb at the back of her skull became too acute to ignore. "Damn," she whispered, beginning to sit up.   


A shriek of pain resounded off the walls a moment later. She had forgotten about her left arm and tried to put weight on it, stretching the skin and ripping more of it open. She fell back, panting and blinking back tears. At length, when her pulse had calmed, she struggled to her feet much more carefully. She was in a cell, able to see only by the light that streamed through the grate above the door. "I'm screwed," Devi muttered, rubbing the bruise on the back of her head. Apparently no one had bothered to catch her after she'd been stunned. There was a dish of brown... something in the corner. Might be food. She walked slowly over to it, mindful of her shoulder, and prodded the mush. It was cold. "Oh, lovel--"  


Her fingers encountered something hard. She withdrew her hand, holding a data chip only slightly larger than her thumbnail. _The codes? Devi_ opened the compartment in the wrist of her left sleeve, grateful that she could still manage this without pain, and stored the chip in with the bug. The _clean_ bug: she had downloaded its contents onto the secure emergency channel her original employers had provided her with and transmitted them after her encounter with Shinzon last night. _This morning. Whatever._  


The sound of footsteps outside snapped her head up. A voice, silky and convincing. Shinzon. "Chancellor...I can only hope you were not harmed in any way."  


Devi retreated to the back wall, listening hard. A voice replied in Standard. _Yeah, that has to be a Romulan._ She couldn't quite make out what was being said. Her mind raced._ All right. So I have to manipulate Shinzon into doing what Huhn'Tej wants. Whatever the hell that is. _After_ I put slice in his throat._ Devi had learned long ago that influence did not mean having someone's friendship. Using hatred and hostility to manipulate was actually one of her strong suits, but she had a feeling that that particular tack wasn't going to get her very far.   


_Shit. I should have asked for five hundred_.  


A few more words were exchanged, then one set of footsteps receded in the other direction, while another continued towards her cell. Shinzon looked into the cell through the grate. There she was, sitting in the very back shadows. He felt an odd flash of disappointment; for some reason, he wanted to see her face. "Devi," he said finally, his voice slicing the silence in the room beyond. He thumbed a remote control at his hip. A pair of cuffs emerged from high up on the wall and hung there, as though waiting. "Restrain yourself."  


Her saw her shift, no doubt looking at the chains. "I don't fucking _think_ so," came the snapped retort.  


Shinzon smiled in amusement. "Then you won't mind if I bring another stun-tazer into this visit," he said after a moment, hitting the button that activated a shockfield between the prisoner and the door. Electricity arced across the cell before settling into a quietly humming, occasionally sparking wall of blue. He waited. At last, he saw her stand, still hidden in the shadows.  


"I can't move my left arm."  


"Very well." He pressed another control and the door slid open. "May I come in?" he mocked, crossing the threshold.   


"What are you asking me for?" she sneered.  


Shinzon manipulated the remote again. The shockfield retreated as he advanced, forcing Devi into a corner. He stopped not three feet from her, when her could see her features clearly. Dried prespiration and tear streaks dirtied her face. She watched him like a caged animal, shifting warily. He saw her wince in pain and followed her gaze to the wound in her shoulder. It was deep enough to make him uncomfortable, jagged and gaping. He raised a brow. "I'll send someone to take care of that for you," he said, his voice unconsciously softening.  


Devi studied him hard. "So you're not going to kill me."  


Shinzon smiled, a predator. "Not until I find out what your game is." He tilted his head. "Tell me, what kind of technology do you use to create that sparking effect?"  


Devi blinked. "What?" She shook her head. "I don't know. I don't use any technology for that; I don't know what it is."  


He glared. "Off." The shockfield dissipated. He stepped forward, reaching out to touch her shoulder. Devi flinched backwards in spite of herself. The wound was becoming almost unbearable, she was jumpy (to say the least), and that was Shinzon. But she was trapped against the wall and couldn't flinch very far back. She threw her head back and hissed as the Praetor pressed his palm to the injury. Once again, a shock travelled through both, but this time Shinzon held his ground. "Very strange indeed," he mused, flicking his fingers in front of his eyes after withdrawing.  


"You think?" she managed sarcastically, breathing heavily from a combination of pain and the unnerving, not-entirely-unpleasant thrill. "What do you want, already?"  


"Why did you kidnap Chancellor Huhn'Tej?"  


"Ransom. Why else?"  


Shinzon's eyes narrowed. "And the meeting?"  


Devi looked up at him. Her lip curled. "Pure curiosity, Praetor." She saw--or hoped she saw--an opportunity, and pounced. "It's interesting to see how a human deals with leadership of the Romulan empire."  


He looked thoughtful. Good sign. "Yes," he replied. "But I am also Reman, which makes it all the more unique."  


_My God, you _are_ conceited. _Devi raised an eyebrow, surveying him. "You look human enough to me. But I guess you'd identify with them after...what, ten years in the dilithium mines?"   


Shinzon's eyes darkened dangerously. He took his communicator from his belt with just a bit too much control and called for a medic. "Indulge your curiosity while you can," he told her, his voice low. "You're going to be in here for a long time."  


Devi leaned her weight onto the wall behind her, schooling her expression. "You're the one who's curious, Praetor," she said coolly.  


He took the comm away from his lips and sent her a probing glance. "Really. Whatever makes you think that."  


Devi summoned up every bit of unnerving stare she had developed over the years and looked him dead in the eye. "Why were you in my rooms, then, instead of sending a croney?" Shinzon opened his mouth, only to find no words. She held his gaze, and he was suddenly trapped again by those eyes, glinting blue and green and amber and silver. "Well?"  


He cleared his throat. "Yes, you do intrigue me." He hesitated, but could not stop himself. "I have never seen another human in my life."  


Devi blinked. She knew she shouldn't be surprised, but all the same she was. "Never?"  


Shinzon smiled. It was a genuine, innocent smile. "Much less a human woman."  


_Yes_. She'd found something. This was actually working. A voice in her head counseled caution; she would have to choose her words carefully. Still, his unexpected smile prompted an answering one to ghost her lips. She lowered her voice just enough. "And are you surprised?"  


He leveled the smile at her. "Pleasantly."  


They stared at each other for a moment of silence before his comm beeped and he was called away. 


	4. The Perfect Opportunity

_Wheee. Next chap is up. A note - this story is being coathoured. Just in case anyone gets terribly confused about the changes in writing styles.  
__________________________________________________________________________________________________  
  
The cell was silent, but for the disciplined exhale from a silhouetted figure. Devi stood, right leg weighted to the ground, the other extended and tucked under her knee. Taking a long, controlled, breath she flowed from one position to another, bowing her head to clasped hands at her chest.  
  
As pleasantly surprised as Shinzon may have been, his duties as Praetor had kept him occupied for weeks. Devi wondered if she had been forgotten enough to begin planning an escape.  
  
"Shhhhhh..." she hissed on an outbreath. _Concentrate on your breathing._  
  
But somehow she didn't think she had been forgotten. She had seen Shinzon conduct himself before both Romulans and Remans, and never once had his eyes lit the way they did around her. She was a challenge to him. She admitted reluctantly that she hadn't had a challenge like this in too long, either. And thalaron... the reward for this job was too great to walk away from. She had to be patient. Play her humanity advantage and be patient.  
  
_Whzzzz_... At the sound of the tazer motor warming up, Devi leapt away from the door, her hand searching her boot to hip reflexively for a weapon. The shockfield crackled to life, lifting loose strands of her hair on end. Silently she reprimanded herself for letting her thoughts distract her from hearing the guard who was now standing in the doorway. He tapped a few buttons on the outside panel, then spoke in a gravely Reman accent:  
  
"Restrain yourself."  
  
"I don't think so," she hissed against the command. For a moment Devi thought the guard looked familiar, but put that thought on low priority. She backed against the cold metal of the cell as the Reman tapped a few more buttons and the wall of energy advanced.  
  
"Restraint. Now. Or you'll awaken in one," he spat, making a show of the nasty looking club in his right hand.  
  
What the...? Hatred? Though she matched his vehement gaze, she could not miss the unmistakable. In her dealings with species across the galaxy she head learned that, although hatred may have many faces, the eyes of that demon never changed. The guard took a step in.  
  
Weaponless, weak and thirsty... She knew this was not going to be pleasant. She wet her lips. "What do you want?"  
  
"You," he pointed a stabbing finger at her, "tell me about Independent Shipping."  
  
She watched him carefully. "They're a shipping corporation," she said slowly. "With no affiliations. That's all I know."  
  
He sneered. "My left arm says differently."  
  
She noticed the bandage for the first time. Recognition hit. This was the guard she had struck on her way down the roof. He was currently gesturing violently to the hand restraints she stood next to. She realized his irrationality might be her only hope.  
  
"What, you don't think you can handle me if I'm not shackled?" Her eyes flashed.  
  
To her surprise, the guard smirked. "Tempting. But Praetor kill me if you got away."  
  
"How sad for you," she tried again, still making no move toward the restraints.  
  
"I said restrain yourself."   
  
"I heard you the first time," she replied coolly. In response the Reman growled deep in his throat, beating against the walls. When Devi only glared back, he broke. Bellowing, he turned and smashed his fist into the controls, the shockfield blinking a few times before vanishing completely.  
  
Without the threat of electrocution to separate them, the guard's still-clenched fist swung back at her. _Damn Remans are fast,_ she thought as the club followed. Dropping into a crouch, she thanked the deities that her shoulder was more or less healed.  
  
Though she had been working out, a diet of gruel and a recovering shoulder had put a damper on her health. The next blow came too quickly – and she reacted too slowly – causing three of her fingers to be smashed between the wall and his club. She cried out as she felt bone shatter. She closed her eyes, gathering herself, then lunged at him, hellfire in her gaze.  
  
"I break more than that human scum!"  
  
The two struggled for the club, when they both felt eyes upon them. Devi was the first to be distracted, and whirled to see the new presence. The guard was behind her in this realization, enough to push her to the ground, hard. CRACK. Pain swirled as her head and fingers impacted. She clenched her teeth, feeling blood trickle from her hairline.   
  
"Fleshkot," a steady voice growled at the guard. "What. Are. You. Doing?"  
  
Devi slowly lifted her head, which seemed to be throbbing through a red haze. She felt the blood on her forehead before getting to her feet, a bit slower than she would have liked.  
  
The guard... Fleshkot... was saluting none other than Praetor Shinzon. "Sir," he said in a tone a little too respectful. "I ask prisoner questions about my brother's death. My brother died day she try to escape."  
  
"Articulate guards you have, Praetor," drawled Devi, cradling her hand and watching the other two in the cell warily. Shinzon glanced at her, then did a double-take when he saw her fingers and the blood. He was on Fleshkot in two strides as he grabbed him by the collar.  
  
"I'm sorry sir." Devi saw Fleshkot reach behind himself as he spoke. "It will not happen again under your rule."  
  
Time seemed to slow as she watched the guard's hand wrap around the phaser. Later, she would tell herself that it was the perfect opportunity to gain his trust, and she could not have let it slip by. In reality, she did not realize that she had yelled, "Look out!" and lunged forward; did not know she had grabbed Fleshkot's phaser before excruciating pain exploded in her side: he had clubbed her in the ribs. She screamed, her knuckles going white around the weapon before as she shot reflexively. Then... blackness. Shinzon concerned and frustrated, trying to wake her. Memories of being carried. Blackness. A shot of pain-killer. Blackness. Shinzon.  
  
And then the blackness won.  


  
****

  
Viceroy Kitnüth was not one to celebrate outwardly, or enthusiastically. Years in the mines had seen to that. As he walked briskly through the halls his half-smile caused several of lower rank to double-take, and finally take the long way around him, in case this was some new disease they might catch.  
  
Kitnüth came to a door and stopped. He cleared his throat and arranged his face in a reserved scowl. He opened the door and stepped forward.  
  
He gave his eyes a moment to adjust. For all that Shinzon tried, his humanity shone through as bright as the lamps that assaulted the Viceroy's eyes. True, this was dark... very dark for a human... but any native to the planet could tell the lighting was unnatural. Of course, no one ever said anything to the Praetor... Kitnüth made a mental note to tell Shinzon someday.  
  
But not today.  
  
Kitnüth took a few more slow strides. Shinzon remained slumped, lifeless. Then slowly, he turned.  
  
"What is it?" His dark eyes seemed oddly distant, even as the harsh edge of his voice was increased.  
  
Seeing his Praetor's mood, the Viceroy maintained his respectful formality. "Praetor... a report has come in from the medical staff."  
  
Shinzon stood abruptly. Kitnüth stood dead still as the man stopped not three feet from him. But this was not aggression… as he spoke, he seemed almost apprehensive... childlike.  
  
"And...?" Shinzon stared at the Reman's face.  
  
"Your cell degeneration rate has decreased dramatically." Kitnüth allowed the smile to flicker, then unabashedly cover his features at Shinzon's shock.  
  
"What?" This was obviously not the news the Praetor had been expecting. "How is that... possible?"  
  
Kitnüth shook his head, the rare smile spent. "They aren't sure. It was as thought you've been receiving cells from your original..." he raised a brow, so serious in his manner that anyone but his closet friend would have missed the sarcasm. "Is there something you're not telling me, Praetor?"  
  
Shinzon ignored the jest. He dropped his eyes from the Reman's face, darting from one side to the other, as though the answer could be found in his peripheral vision. "That's impossible." He met the Viceroy's eyes again. "The Enterprise hasn't even reached the neutral zone yet."  
  
Kitnüth clapped a hand on Shinzon's shoulder. "Then it seems we have something of a miracle on our hands." He then pulled back and bowed respectfully. "May your rule be a long one."  
  
"Yes, thank you..." Shinzon half-turned away, still a little shell-shocked. Then he came back with a start and he stayed the Viceroy with an, "Mm," holding up his hand. "The woman. How is she?"  
  
Studying Shinzon's expression carefully, Kitnüth replied: "She is under the care of the medical team, but she seems to be quite... recovered. She is currently restrained."  
  
Shinzon raised an eyebrow, his face smooth as ice. "Restrained? Did she try to escape?"  
  
"There was an...incident. No one was killed." Kitnüth was careful to school his expression. Shinzon offered the Reman a smile, private between the two of them.   
  
"Very good. You may go."  
  
  
  



	5. Stranger Than Fiction

The harsh glare of flourescent lights greeted Devi as she slowly opened her eyes, which immediately watered. She blinked reflexively for a few seconds, gathering her wits. Her mind wasn't responding with its usual lightning speed. _They sedate me...?_ She certainly felt like it.  
  
The odd tug at the edge of her consciousness suddenly became a memory, at first vague and then clear enough to make her suck in her breath. She winced as her bruised side protested. Now she remembered; everything was so clear in hindsight: she had taken the guard by surprise and managed to twist the phaser from his hand, either through strength or sheer momentum. The sensation of flying through the air had been lost in the agony that is shattered ribs - at least, from how her torso felt, she was pretty sure they had been shattered - but she recalled sliding a good distance to the floor after her skull had cracked against the wall so hard that she had only heard and not felt it.  
  
There had been nothing after that, nothing but hallucinations behind her eyelids. The head trauma must have been severe: she had snapped awake in frenzied violence, attacking the Remans who were no doubt trying to piece either her head or her ribs back together.   
  
The memories that had swirled within her delirium were lost to her, and she preferred that they remain so.  
  
Devi tried to move her arms, only to find them shackled above her head. She was lying on a gurney, without blanket or pillow. From the sharp, antiseptic smell and the bare look of the room (or what she could see of it), she was probably in the medical wing. She tugged at her restraints again. _Bastards._  
  
_All right, at least I'm alive. And out of that Goddamn cell. Talk to the first medic that comes along and find out if I haven't jumped from the frying pan..._  
  
It was cold, and getting colder by the second, frost seeping steadily into her bones. Soon she was shivering violently. Devi knew it was an effect of blood loss, and this certainly wasn't her worst bout of it, but that was not much consolation when her teeth began to chatter.  
  
"Sir." A voice in Hazthash from the right. Devi let her head loll to the side; several strands of raven hair fell across her face. Through the doorway standing ajar she could see part of the room beyond, where a Reman was moving aside for someone standing in the other half. "The tests are conclusive. However, if you would stay for this last scan..."  
  
Praetor Shinzon came into Devi's field of vision. He stopped just as he had almost left it and looked into her room. He froze, then changed direction and came towards her. He stepped over the threshold and closed the door completely.  
  
Devi had watched the Praetor impassively, moving only to nudge her shoulder against her face and brush away the hair draped there. He was in his usual uniform - or armor, more like, but she wasn't one to talk - and a small band that circled his wrist emitted a quiet beep every now and then.   
  
"Hello."  
  
Devi arched an eyebrow.  
  
Shinzon struggled to school his expression as his eyes ran across her body of their own accord: even weak, bloodied, and helpless, the woman in torn leather with gloved hands shackled above her head was still the picture of irreverent danger. He swallowed against a somewhat dry throat, and then cleared it to cover up. "I hear you are recovering."  
  
Devi forced her teeth to be still. "I'm alive." Her voice was hoarse. "How long have I been here?"  
  
"Twelve hours or so." He glanced about the room, then moved closer until he loomed directly above her. "Your ribs were broken, I believe."  
  
"Yeah," she hissed through clenched teeth, losing some control as a particularly intense shiver arched her body off the gurney, "an entire fucking set. I figured. What about my head?"  
  
"Your skull was cracked, but not open. The medics didn't detect any brain trauma."  
  
Devi let her eyes fall shut and her head roll back. She could feel that the back of her skull was indeed tender as she put pressure back onto it. She was so cold, to the point that her stomach was beginning to hurt. Her fingers clenched above her head. _Bloody God, I'm tired..._  
  
Shinzon watched her, unsure of what to say or do. She did not seem to be responding - perhaps she had fallen back asleep. She looked exhausted. When the silence had stretched for several minutes, he licked his lips and raised his right hand, the one with the band taking his cell measurements. There was a sliver of skin exposed between the woman's glove and her sleeve. He experimentally touched his fingers to it, bracing himself. Even so, the intial surge of energy made him shudder.  
  
And the band around his wrist, which had been beeping steadily, went berserk.  
  
Devi's eyes had snapped open at the first touch with a gasp. She was suddenly no longer cold. Shinzon kept his hand on her, but his lips had parted in wonder. After a few moments Devi's body accustomed itself to the buzzing, electrical sensation in her skin and she noticed the wild beeping coming from above her head. She twisted her neck, trying to see what was going on. "What-"  
  
Shinzon pulled his hand away to look at the band. The numbers in the display were spinning out of control. Soon after he broke contact, though, they calmed and resumed a steady tick. "I see," he said, not taking his eyes from the band.  
  
Devi's breath had already evened. "You see what?" Her voice tremored from the cold, but was easing back into use.  
  
He looked back at her, power and fascination melding in his stoney eyes. When he spoke, it was with the emotionless excitement of calculation. "I have an unusual condition, you see."  
  
Devi's mind was racing. She flicked her tongue over her lips. "You mean besides being the only human being for light-years around?"  
  
He turned away, "I am a clone," and began to pace as he spoke. "That of Jean-Luc Picard."  
  
A sharp breath jarred her ribs. _...Jesus. Christ._  
  
That explained a lot that. Including what in hell a human child had been doing in the dilithium mines of Remus in the first place, something that hadn't turned up in her background research prior to coming here. Devi had been trained to make instant connections concerning political intrigue, and now it was all so clear. _And if that government had stayed in power...my God, if they had stayed in power, it just might have worked._  
  
"My cells have been degenerating," he continued. "I had little time left. Then, according to my last cell count..." He turned back to her and ran his fingers up her face with a cruel smirk. The wrist-band began to go wild again. Devi tried to jerk away. She was unaccustomed to touching or being touched unless violence was involved. "My cells have started to multiply."  
  
"...you're _joking._"  
  
"No."  
  
Shock was quickly replaced by a dark light in her nebulous eyes. "Well, well, well," she said at last with a nasty smile.  
  
Shizon stared at her, not seeming to have heard her threat. "Why did you stop the guard?" he demanded suddenly.  
  
Devi blinked. Suddenly, for the life of her, for all of her cold caluclation and brilliant lies, she could not find one fabricated reply that would work; and so when lies failed, she went with the truth, but the answer she found there only puzzled her further.   
  
"It was the human thing to do."   
  
Shinzon was silent. Slowly, he pulled the band from his wrist and crossed the room to a panel set by the door. He pressed a few controls, and Devi felt her restraints open with a _snick._ She brought her hands to her sternum and rubbed at her wrists before sitting up, wincing as her bruised ribs shifted. Her stomach cramped as she swung her legs over the side of the gurney. Devi wrapped her arms about herself, shivering hard, and leaned forward, watching Shinzon all the while. The Praetor of Romulus looked at her, then cast his gaze about the room. He went into a corner and opened a compartment, where ward robes and blankets were neatly folded. He took one of the latter and offered it to her at arm's length. Devi took it without question and wrapped it about her shoulders.  
  
"I don't think I ever officially welcomed you to Romulus."  
  
Devi looked up into Shinzon's impassive features, almost rendered speechless. This was easy, far too easy. Outwardly, she smirked. "No. Is that what you were doing in my rooms, then?"  
  
He smiled slightly. "Perhaps. I still don't know what you're playing at. But you're free to walk the palace. Be assured that the outer doors are locked to you, however."   
  
Devi's eyes narrowed imperceptibly. "Why are you -" she began before catching herself._ Idiot. Don't give him second thoughts._  
  
"Because I want to see what you do next."   
  
Devi stood, letting the blanket fall to the gurney despite the cold, pushing back her hair with one hand. She advanced on him just to repsectable personal distance and looked him in the eye, all of this not completely of her own volition. She did not know why; something about this man made her say stupid things. "Curiosity killed the cat, Praetor."  
  
His gaze flickered, but beyond that he was unperturbed. "You realize," he said after a moment, "that I need whatever it is that happens when we...touch. I expect you at my quarters at 2100 hours every night."  
  
The oddest laugh twitched about her lips, as though at a private joke. "2100 hours," she replied evenly. "Um," she added as an afterthought, looking down at her torn, bloody outfit. "You wouldn't have anyone who could mend this?"  
  


****

  
Devi shook out her damp hair and studied her reflection in the mirror. There was a bruise where her head had been cut open and faint bags beneath her eyes, but aside from that she was looking and feeling much better for a hot shower. After being shown to a new set of quarters, she had fallen onto the bed and slept for hours. She had a strong suspicion she really had collapsed into unconsciousness, because she had never even had the chance to feel her own exhaustion. When she awoke nearly all her clothing and toiletries were on the floor, neatly folded and stacked. She remembered staring at them and thinking that they must have been checked over for weapons and the like, then wondering if she had locked the damn door, then deciding that she did not care and stumbling into the bathroom. 

Now it was 20:50 hours. She ran a finger over the left shoulder of her jumpsuit, ignoring the phantom pains that it induced. The Reman in charge of the guards' armor knew his stuff, Devi had to admit. She had watched him like a hawk as he patched the holes and rips in the black leather with a device she'd never encountered before. Adrenaline and a healthy dose of paranoia (he had been pressing that device against _her_, after all) had kept her alert throughout that process. Her armor had been removed for it, and remained so except for the forearm and spine plates. The suit hugged every curve and plane of her body and left little to the imagination. Its purpose, however, was solely practical--regular clothing had the annoying habit of snagging at the most inopportune times. Devi was well aware of her power as a female and had, on occasion, used it. Still, she found the tactic of seduction rather distasteful and she certainly never used her combat outfit to do it with. 

And she was certainly _not_ going to do it on this job. 

Devi looked at herself and gave a harsh laugh. _A man summoning me to his quarters at this hour, and his only interest is in survival._ She began pulling on her gloves. _Check this place over for bugs tomorrow. And find some way to open up that chip. I need those codes._ She sighed as a beep came at her door. "What?" 

"You are summoned," came a Reman's gravelly voice through the comm. 

Devi used the mirror to send the door a glare. She badly wanted to strangle that person on the other side, or anything that breathed, really. Her eyes flicked to the clock, which now read 20:54. She deliberately ignored the Reman as she gathered her hair into a bun and fastened it with a slim rod. Her gloved fingers drummed in frustration against the empty sheath at her hip. If only she had a weapon, this entire situation would be so much better... 

The guard met her with silence when she opened the door and made only a small gesture to indicate that she should follow before turning his back. Devi's sharp eyes missed nothing as she walked after the Reman, memorizing every detail of their route. To the end of the hallway and--to her surprise--up a case of stairs, one left turn. All in all, it was a trip of five minutes. They stopped in front of a wall. After a moment, a section of it slid aside to reveal a cold metal door. Devi stared hard at the Reman beside her, but as far as she could tell he had nothing to trigger the deceptive entrance. Her irritation was promptly overriden by the knot of apprehension in her stomach. The metal door opened to reveal a room so dimly lit that its walls were thrown into shadow. She caught a glimpse of black curtains, but her gaze was attracted by the sole source of light in Shinzon's quarters: a computer terminal at which the Praetor himself sat, facing them. 

"You _do_ like the dark," she drawled as she stepped over the threshold. All light from the corridor was sealed off with a hiss from behind and she blinked, trying to get her pupils to adjust. The very same darkness caught her voice and seemed to cushion it, making her sarcasm both harsher and deeper. 

"The dilithium mines were dark," he replied impassively. "Darker than this. Have a seat." 

"Where?" she rejoined with belligerence, walking closer to the terminal soley for its light. Her eyes had been trained to function in dim settings, but nothing as extreme as the mines of Remus, or these quarters, for that matter. The line of her body came into sharp definition as she drew near enough to see his features, and Shinzon suddenly had to put effort into not staring. The Praetor stood and pulled a stool into the weak light. It was upholstered in some kind of fabric, but Devi couldn't be sure what color. Red, maybe. She sat cautiously, wincing as her ribs were still tender, and watched Shinzon follow suit. 

This, _this_ was the critical encounter. Devi knew she had to play her cards right; she needed to grab what power she could without seeming too aggressive. His life depended upon her; that already gave her an edge, albeit an unstable one. _I need figure out how to control whatever regeneration power I have. I need an on/off switch_. 

"So," she said aloud coolly, breaking a moment's silence. "You need me to stay alive." 

Shinzon smiled--or smirked, more like. What he said next was unwise, but he could not resist. "There are...alternatives." 

_Oh, _are _there?_

"Take off your gloves." 

His commanding tone set off warning bells in her head, not to mention rubbed her pride the wrong way. She leveled a stare at him, indulging what anger she could. "Why don't we try common courtesty, _Praetor?_" It was just short of a sneer. 

Shinzon's eyes darkened. "Says the woman who put a nick in my neck." 

"It could have been more than a nick." 

"Very well then. Shall we begin?" He adopted a sickeningly polite expression and mocked, "_Please?_" 

"There, that wasn't so hard." She began tugging at the leather of one hand with some reluctance and lay the glove over her knee. Shinzon found his gaze drawn to the bare skin of her hand. For some reason, he had to swallow against a dry throat as he reached for her wrist. Devi quickly drew back. "No." 

One word, one simple word, and beneath it surged a struggle for power so intense it could not have lasted for more than a second. Shinzon opened his mouth to say something, then closed it. He watched her. 

"Hold out your hand." 

He did. 

As Devi moved to meet his hand with her own, an odd notion flashed across her mind. It was on a baseless hunch that she drew her stool abruptly closer just as she pressed her palm to his, testing his personal space. He reacted exactly as she expected: he recoiled. It was all that she had time to register before she was assaulted by that tingling, liquid burn. She sucked in her breath and willed herself to stay where she was.   


Shinzon could not control the little shudders that spidered over his body, which were initially so intense he almost had to pull away. At length, though, they subsided into a steady pulsing throughout his body. It was a pleasant sensation, and he was not sure if that disturbed or relieved him. He felt her gaze and avoided it in a state akin to panic, darting his eyes back and forth around the room.  


Devi could not help staring. As soon as the first shock had subsided, she too had started to feel the thrumming energy that coursed between them via their palms. However, she had also become aware of something else: Shinzon's mind. At least, that was what she assumed; she had no other phrase for the _presence_ of another within her own head. She could sense his nervousness, his wonder, his eagerness. Swirling beneath that was a deep, angry hurt that festered like a black hole; a wound of the psyche. Her breathing was coming fast now, but she did not notice. With an effort, a flex of a muscle she did not know existed, she peered into that hole.  


Saw nothing. Felt nothing. Heard nothing. Except a youth weeping.  


Shinzon finally settled his gaze on hers and they held eye contact, as though by some unspoken agreement. Gradually, Devi found a way to accomodate the singing in her blood. It was only then that she could begin to feel...things. Tiny little things that were moving, stretching, pulling, like a trillion tiny balloons popping beneath her nerves. They were Shinzon's cells, multiplying and growing and...  


She was so acutely aware of them, aware that there was some way to touch them; control them. The key to _how _hovered just beyond the reaches of her mind. It was a hard fight, not unlike a human trying to find the muscles that moved the ears. Her breathing sped up subtly as she began to lose herself in the emotions and presence of the man before her. A new sensation began to curl about her consciousness: fear, a confused fear of _her_. Devi did not know it, but she responded by allowing her fingers to relax and interlace with Shinzon's, almost grasping his hand. Pity spiked through her. _You must be so lonely_.  


Devi's guard was down. The thought flashed across her eyes.  


After a moment, it became too much for Shinzon to bear. He dropped his hand and drew a trembling breath. Devi started, as though a wall she had been leaning against had vanished without warning. "That should be enough for tonight," he said, fighting to keep his voice curt as he looked away.  


Devi stood. "Yeah." It sounded less cold than she was comfortable with. She began pulling on her glove, disgusted by the unsteadiness of her fingers. Her mind was reeling.   


Shinzon looked up, wanting to say more, but all that came from his mouth was, "A guard will escort you back to your quarters."  


Devi spared him no more than a glance before walking out  



	6. Under the Skin

The Romulan Senate was asleep and its hallways dark. For the time being, no vicious debate charged the air of the former fortress that had seen so many coups in all its centuries of life. In the morning, the plotting and maneuveringwould begin again in the heart of a troubled and glorious empire; whose own inner turmoil threatened to plunge it into obscurity in the face of a rising Federation.  
  
Devi knew this through extensive study and research on Romulus's history, but she also knew it instinctively. She had always had a knack for sensing political atmosphere, ever since she was very young. Her earliest memories, when her mind had not been developed enough to form coherent ones, were vague imprints of situations and the feel of them. Said memories, coming to her in a room illuminated by lights at only a quarter capacity, now made her frown. She blinked up at the ceiling and shifted where she lay on the bed, one hand over her abdomen and her other arm tucked beneath her head. Absently, she noted that her feet were where her head should be, but as the fragments of her childhood continued to surface in her mind, each sharper than the last, she decided to rise and look for some distraction in the halls outside before they became too clear.  
  
The mists hovering over the floors (the product of a climate system not antiquated enough to warrant replacement) swirled and parted reluctantly as her doors hissed open into quiet emptiness. Looking to her left and her right, Devi saw that the corridor was empty and even darker than quarters being sealed off behind her. In fact, it seemed that the only light she had to find her way by was what filtered down from the upper levels. She reminded herself that Romulans had sharper night vision  
than did most humans, but at less than one-tenth capacity (Devi doubted it was anything more), this lighting must have been set with Remans, and only Remans, in mind. A humorless smile, her own peculiar trademark, quirked over her lips.   
  
Outside the residential wing, the lighting was considerably brighter. To Devi, who had been peering into blackness for the past two minutes, it might as well have been broad daylight. At the end of a hallway designed with an angle to block one's view of what lay beyond (and vice-versa), she stepped into the second level that was entirely devoted to the ruling body's functions: the room where Senate met; a mess hall for the politicians; a room furnished for visiting dignitaries to wait or socialize in, and other things besides. Now that Shinzon had seized power, it housed nothing more than a farce, no less empty for when it was filled with senators than right now, with her footsteps ringing clear and unimpeded on the hard tiles. They gradually slowed, becoming more and more concise until the last of them faded away to an echo. She had stopped at the turbolift, one hand on the call. Now she turned back and cast a glance over her shoulder at the pillars and the furniture, hardly more than silhouettes, and suffered a shiver that coiled up her spine: she was working to hijack the Romulan empire. It was almost enough to be payment in itself.  
  
Almost.  
  
She called the lift and directed it to the topmost floor. This was hardly Devi's initial realization of the fact, of course, but she had never before been so struck by it. The lift stopped almost silently and opened its doors. This was central control, where government staff worked all hours of the day to maintain a standby status. Communications officers fielded messages and security kept an eye on the planet's atmosphere, ready to sound the alarm at the first sign of a threat. At this hour of the morning, though, even central control was down to a skeleton crew. The most curious Remans only glanced at her as she passed.  
  
Devi made her way to the astronomy lab, removed from the heaviest activity. It had been shut down for the night, but the doors opened without trouble. "Computer, lights," she ordered as she locked the doors behind her. A wide, circular room with a high domed ceiling flooded into illumination, leaving Devi once again blinking. Here, she was alone, and it was blissfully silent.   
  
The lab doubled as a planetarium, with couches running about its perimeter, an oblong island of computer terminals in the center, and a generous space between them for walking. These computers were the ones she had first used to open Huhn'Tej's data two days ago. The Chancellor had made good on his word, providing Devi with codes, passwords, and overrides to every (or almost every, she was sure) door, security lock, and damn ventilation grille in the building, along with detailed information about the current political situation, cultural etiquette for both Romulans and Remans (not that Devi planned to interact with more people than necessary), and the hierarchy of power among both military and political figures. There had also been a short list of people of interest, all of whom had played some role in the Praetor's uprising. As far as Devi knew, Huhn'Tej was the only Romulan who had opposed the new leader in any way and survived.  
  
One week had passed since her first appointment (she could think of no other word) with the Praetor, and so far Devi was discouraged. The man she was seeking to gain control over closed himself off in a shell that had to be pried open with utmost care. She had never faced an equal challenge before.  
  
The young woman blew air through her lips, frustrated with herself. _No, that's not true_, she thought irately, interlacing her fingers over her head and beginning to pace, staring up at the ceiling. Devi knew exactly (she hoped) where the Praetor's raw nerves lay. Something was holding her back from manipulating with a clear head; every time she came into contact with Shinzon, a keen sense of competition, almost like spark, always distracted her from her objective. No prey of hers had ever incited this before. She could only conclude that someway, somehow, the man had gotten under her skin.  
  
_Damn it._  
  
She was making progress, she reminded herself as she took a seat before a computer and brought it online. Just tonight (last night, technically), as she had been leaving, the Praetor had begun to speak and then sharply cut himself off. When she turned on the threshold, raising an inquisitive eyebrow at where he still sat, he had only shaken his head and waved her out.  
  
Devi indulged in a dark smirk, willing to bet that it had been some attempt to prolong her presence. Shinzon could perhaps distract her, but she was hardly blind. She saw the hunger in his face when she removed her glove, and it made her wonder how much of it was for her life-giving ability and how much was for simple contact, with a human or otherwise.  
  
_You're not being helpful._ She frowned at the monitor and rapidly keyed a few controls. It was amazing how quickly one's Hazthash came back when one needed to break into Reman files. The security on these systems was the tightest Devi had ever come up against. Given her time restrains, she was probably looking at two days, not two hours, for an initial hack.  
  
A soft _click_ jerked her eyes to the door. The red light of an engaged lock had switched to green. Immediately, Devi killed all programs except for Planetarium Control, which she had set up in case she was interrupted. She had almost not bothered at all, as it was past two in the morning and this was the least-trafficked part of the building.  
  
Another point for the paranoia approach.  
  
The ceiling gave way to a black sky studded with stars just as Praetor Shinzon walked in. Devi kept her swearing mental with enormous effort as the other pulled up short upon seeing her. Apprehension flicked over the dark eyes before being swallowed into their depths.  
  
"What are you doing here?" he demanded after a moment, still frozen in place.  
  
She ordered the lights to dim. "Astronomy." She pushed her chair back slightly and propped her feet up onto the edge of the island, gesturing at the ceiling. "I could ask the same of you."  
  
Shinzon bristled and then forced himself to relax. He did not succeed, as far as his tone was concerned. "This is _my_ Senate."  
  
"Really," she retorted coolly, looking up at the sky. "I'd almost forgotten."  
  
A dangerous expression passed over Shinzon's face, but as the woman before him was turned away, it was lost on her. He glowered at her back before crossing their separating distance, coming right up behind her. "I have work to do here," he informed her, menace dripping from every word.  
  
She remained infuriatingly unintimidated. (It was fortunate for Devi that he had missed altogether the stiffening of her spine). "Absolutely," she drawled, waving a hand vaguely at the computers. "It's your Senate."  
  
Shinzon's jaw clenched. It was difficult not to seize her by the shoulders and throw her from the chair, and all that stopped him was the fact that even though she was weaponless, he would likely regret laying a hand on her.  
  
And he owed her his life. He hated that.  
  
After a moment he took the seat next to hers and started the computer. Once it was online, however, he could hardly thing of what to pass off as his 'work'. In all honestly, the Praetor almost always came to this place for a silence that was not the oppressive loneliness of his own rooms. Now his haven was being invaded. He glanced at Devi from the corner of his eye and involuntarily followed the line of her outstretched legs.   
  
"What?' she asked, catching his look; knowing that he had not wanted his look to be caught. It was purely to nettle him, and although Devi knew that she should not be annoying him, much less feeling any desire to annoy him, she honestly could not help herself. It was frightening.  
  
Shinzon looked fully into her face for a moment. Then suddenly his hand shot out and grabbed the back of her chair. "Hey!" She instinctively tucked in her legs as her perch rolled over the floor to him. "Wha-"  
  
"Do you see that star?" he asked abruptly, almost harshly, pointing at one tiny prick of light in the sky.  
  
Devi pulled back and stared at his profile, disconcerted by his sudden proximity. "Do you see it?" he insisted, gentler this time.  
  
She decided to play along. "That one?" she answered, after leaning in to sight along his arm and then adding her own finger. Shinzon flinched away, even though her skin was gloved.  
  
"Yes." It was a small star, nearly glared out by its neighbors. "Its coordinates are 534.2, 68.04, 9021.7. Zoom in on it."  
  
Devi stretched to reach her own terminal with a sidelong glance at Shinzon. She knew those coordinates; they had been locked into her memory for as long as she could remember. She knew what would fill the ceiling even as she set _x, y, z_, and set the zoom to local system.  
  
The stars blurred into lines and streaked across the sky in a simulation of warp drive. They stopped once the computer had finished processing and gave way to a system of nine planets with their marked orbits. Two gas giants swirled as they revolved around it, separated by a belt of asteroids from a smaller, glowing ball of gold that was nearer the star. "Magnify the third planet," Shinzon said, but Devi was already working the program. An orb of marbled blue and brown, tilted on its axis and frosted cloudy white, rotated into full view. Shinzon dropped his hand and sat back, satisfied. "There," he said with an enigmatic smile. Devi searched his face with new interest.  
  
_He is obsessed with his humanity._  
  
"Have you ever been there?" she probed.  


There was a silence. She glanced at him again and sawbitterness. "Never."

The jerk of pity in her chest caught her off guard. "I'm sorry," she responded before thinking.

The Praetor wetted his lips, hesitating. He had not intended or expected to be so eager for conversation. "I don't suppose a mercenary like yourself..."

Devi found that she had to collect herself before delivering, "I was born and raised there," with a careless shrug. So much for avoiding old memories."Gone back a few times on business."

Shinzon opened his mouth, and then shut it."Well," when he spoke, there was a dark shade of aggression in his voice, "I feel more attachment to Remus than your Earth."

"Makes sense." She saw her chance and seized it. "You could always visit, you know," she remarked, half in jest. "Well. Make peace, then visit. All that."

He only looked at her in all of his angry brand of arrogance.Devi shrugged and reclined back in her chair with a smirk, propping her legs up again, feeling fatigue set in. Her body was still recovering from the brutal injuries and had received perhaps a fraction of the sleep it needed this past week. This was partially because she had spent her nights haunting the halls and learning the lay of the building, but the fact remained that, as tired as she was, she could not sleep: she was stressed and she was...  


She sighed quietly and her eyes dragged closed almost against her will.

With her scathing gaze shielded from the world, her beauty was enhanced by a more serene manner, although she would never know it. Shinzon studied her, softening. "Is it your home?" he asked suddenly. 

She frowned and opened her eyes, brought back by his voice. "It's where we came from, isn't it?" she said after a moment, staring almost drowsily up at the planet rotating on its axis. "I...don't really have a home. But if I had to name one, Earth would be it."  


"You do not seem so fond of it," he observed, and he sounded almost triumphant. Devi blinked as the extent of his defensiveness sank in, as did the new spin all of this put on the word 'obsessed'. She sat up and snapped something that she immediately wanted to maim herself for.  


"You seem bent on hating it."  


The Praetor looked at her again, this time in surprise and something else akin to fear. The same flickered over Devi's face as she realized with a sinking feeling just how deep beneath her skin he was. She hadn't stood a chance against her own tongue. After a moment in which no one spoke, Devi settled back with a silent but shaken sigh. "It's my early time there that I'm not fond of." And look at that, she obviously still hadn't gotten control of her tongue. "Not Earth."  


"I see."  


"Do you want to? Go there?" Perhaps she should simply cut her tongue off.  


Praetor Shinzon felt oddly compelled to answer honestly; to tell the woman beside him everything he only partially understood. It unsettled him like nothing ever before. Abruptly, he stood up and offered her a small, stiff bow. "Good night, Devi," he said before striding out, resisting the urge to move too quickly.   


It didn't matter. Devi looked after him until the doors closed him off from view, and she knew that his exit had been an escape. She rubbed the bridge of her nose in relief; another few minutes and it probably would have been her doing the same. Strange, then, that she felt a twinge of disappointment.  



End file.
